Following the instructions of the gauge O guild’s manual, we have built a Track Alignment Vehicle. This will help when laying the trackwork. It ensures we have laid the track correctly and there are no twists that may derail long fixed wheel vehicles
On our layout we are using BR(W) semaphore signals, the photo shows our first attempts at kit bashing a Model signal engineers kit.
This photo shows the completed three way point, although on our layout the left hand road will never be used the point has been built to a good standard and would work if desired.
This is the a 1 in 6 flat bottom point, it has had some weather applied to it as a test
This is a photo of the first piece of pointwork to be constructed, it is a double cross over made from Peco Individulay in flat bottom rail. On our layout we are having flat bottom on the main line and loop with bull head in the shunting yard and colliery line. 
This photo is taken from the other end of the layout, this is the colliery end with the colliery line on the right
This photo shows the templates laid out to show the rough track plan. We have now been able to check the lengths of the run rounds and ensure we have enough room as we hoped
This is a photo attempting to show the different gradients on board 5, the mainline is the closer line dropping away to the left
In this photo Richard and Dave are screwing 1 of the track beds to board 5, there are 2 levels on the board with the main line dropping away and the shunting yard remaining flat
This is 5 boards of the layout fitted together, it is 20ft in length and these make up the major scenic boards. There is one other board to at the far end which is the bridge board and has to be specially made and 4 fiddle yard boards, 2 at each end
This shot shows the gradient of board 4, the left hand track bed remains level. The right hand will be the main line falling away from the shunting yard.
This is a shot of the completed board 4, it is one of the simpler boards to fit the track bed on, but has a slight gradient at one end
This is a photo of the framing being assembled, it shows Nick and Dave holding the framing down on the table to keep it square.
This photo is of Richard countersinking the holes. We are taking full advantage of having a good quality pillar drill, it allows us to countersink with great ease and ensures every countersink is the correct depth
This is a photo of Dave drilling pilot holes into the fames ready to be screwed together. We have 8 or 9 hole drilling jigs that allow us to mark the hole positions each time without having to do any calculations. This saves a lot of time.
In the photo you can see all 7 sandwiches pieces have been glued and are being weighted down by plate glass, this glass just happened to be in the warehouse at the time. It is very good for this task as it is a nice even weight across the sandwich length.
This week we choose to work on the framing for board 5, Our progress this week included the marking and cutting of all of the lengths of Plywood and softwood. We could then cut mark out each sandwich piece for the hole drilling, once these holes were drilled we still had enough time to glue the sandwiches together. The photo shows Richard gluing the softwood to one side of the plywood.
We have now finish the framing for the 4th board, which is now going towards the other end of the layout, it is fairly simple with a slight bit of gradient work on it. 
This is another picture to show the gradients on the layout, in this you can clearly see the steep incline of the colliery line.
By changing the height of the track bed risers you can put in gradients, in this picture the track bed at the back is the colliery line which is steeply inclined up to the colliery, the line at the front is the main line which slopes back down towards what would be the bottom of the valley 
After starting with the simplest board, which was the middle of the layout, we have now worked our way towards the colliery end of the layout. This shows the next 2 boards completed. This picture doesn’t show the gradients very well. 
This photo shows Richard and Dave holding the first board. this is the underside of the first board shortly after completing it, this shows all 7 different sandwich pieces that are used for each board. This photo shows 2 people lifting the board, but it is very easy to lift on your own. 
After the framing was completed we could then cut out a piece of 9mm plywood to act as the track bed, this was the glued and screwed to the rises to give it a firm base.
This is a shot of Richard and John building the first board, we are adding the first web that goes across the board and adds support for the track bed. In this shot the main fame for the board is already put together, it is important when screwing this together, that the frame is dead square
All of the sandwiches have now to be screwed together to reinforce the glue, it is worth making a note of where the main construction screws are going, as you need to leave some space for these
In this shot you can see us weighing the sandwich down while the glue goes off, it is important to ensure it stays dead flat at all times while gluing. To the left are other sandwiches we have made, all have gone though this process and will be used in making the first board. Nick, who runs a computer firm, would like me to ensure to any of his customers, these are old hard drives and aren't going to be fitted into their new PC 
This is a shot of myself holding up the first mistake we (John) made, correct one is on the left. Please note the position of the hole on the right one is too low. 
Work is continuing on the first board, is this picture 1’’ by 3’’ blocks of softwood are being stuck to the plywood with another layer to be stuck on the outside, this will make the sandwich construction. These softwood blocks are the risers that the track bead will sit on. 
This is a picture of David sanding back the holes on our first bits of plywood.
